Description
Decca: Isata Kanneh-Mason — Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann (Audio CD)
Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!
Product Details:
- Product Type: Audio CD
- Brand / Label: Decca
- Composer: Clara Schumann (with two Robert Schumann transcriptions)
- Performer: Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano)
- With: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Holly Mathieson; Jonathan Aasgaard (cello); Elena Urioste (violin)
- Catalog Number: 485 0020
- UPC: 028948500208
- Release Year: 2019
- Genre: Classical
- Style: Romantic, solo piano and concerto
Product Features
- Format: CD
- Discs: 1
- Tracks: 16
- Total timing: 76:22
- Recording: DDD, Stereo
- Booklet enclosed (English, French, German)
- Made in the EU
- Condition: Factory Sealed (New)
Overview
This was the album that announced Isata Kanneh-Mason as a major recording artist — a full-length portrait of Clara Schumann, released for the 200th anniversary of her birth in 2019. It's both a showcase for a brilliant young pianist and an act of advocacy for a composer too long remembered only as Robert Schumann's wife and a famous virtuosa.
Clara was, in fact, one of the first significant female composers, and the music here proves it. The Piano Concerto in A minor, written when she was a teenager, is a real find — confident, lyrical, with a glorious slow movement that becomes an intimate duet between piano and solo cello. The 3 Romances for piano and the G minor Sonata reveal a composer of genuine depth, by turns tender and turbulent.
Kanneh-Mason plays it all with poise, warmth and a singing tone, partnered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Holly Mathieson and joined by violinist Elena Urioste for the 3 Romances, Op. 22. The disc closes with two of Clara's own transcriptions of Robert's songs — "Widmung" and "Mondnacht" — a touching acknowledgment of the marriage at the music's center. A beautifully programmed, beautifully played tribute.
Interesting Facts
- The album was released in 2019 to mark the 200th anniversary of Clara Schumann's birth.
- Clara Schumann was one of the most celebrated concert pianists of the 19th century, admired by Chopin, Liszt and Robert Schumann alike.
- She composed her Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7, as a teenager; its slow movement features an extended duet for piano and solo cello.
- The disc includes Clara's own piano transcriptions of two of her husband Robert's most famous songs, "Widmung" and "Mondnacht."
- The booklet quotes Clara's own doubt — that she did not believe a woman could compose — making the album a deliberate rebuttal.
- Isata Kanneh-Mason is the eldest of the seven musical Kanneh-Mason siblings, and this was her debut solo album for Decca.
Track Listing
1–3. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7 — 21:17 4–6. 3 Romances for piano, Op. 11 — 13:44
- Scherzo No. 2 in C minor, Op. 14 — 4:52 8–10. 3 Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22 — 10:09
- Widmung (Robert Schumann, Op. 25 No. 1, transcr. Clara Schumann) — 2:14
- Mondnacht (Robert Schumann, Op. 39 No. 5, transcr. Clara Schumann) — 3:51 13–16. Piano Sonata in G minor — 20:14
Publishers
Released 2019 by Decca Music Group Limited (Universal). Made in the EU. Booklet enclosed.
Enjoyed this one? A short review helps other listeners discover Clara Schumann's music.
